Things are happening, and for real this time!

After two long years, months of waiting on quotes, a variance interruption, and multiple "we're breaking ground" lies, things are FINALLY happening for #WildernestBuild.

Last week we hired JD's Storm Tree Removal Service, out of Rochester, to take down the 30+ trees where the house would be going, and the story of how we met feels a lot like fate to me.

It was a Saturday, about two weeks ago, and I was headed home from meeting other trees guys on our land to discuss prices and options. After getting one quote for $17,000 to drop and remove all 30 trees, and another quote for $4,000 just to drop and leave them for us to take care of, I was feeling a bit frustrated by the whole thing. This would, yet again, be another set back for us, as we planned to pay for the tree removal in cash instead of having to include it in our construction loan (aka mortgage). At almost $20,000 to get the job 100% done, this was not an expense we were prepared for, nor did we feel like draining almost half of our house savings to do.

Nevertheless I made my way home to give Jay the news, passing an old vintage saw in a Rochester yard sale that caught my eye. I contemplated turning back for it, decided against it, but found myself turning back anyway.

I was met by an older couple, who greeted me with their life story of sorts. Every item in the sale had a story to tell, including one about the son they lost and the other son who was getting married in a week. I learned that they had purchased the house next door for their surviving son, using money from grandma so they could pay for it in cash and later fix up. They had multiple trees taken down as well, peaking my curiosity enough to ask who they had hired for the job.

It was then that I learned about Justin and his business, JD's Storm Tree Removal Service. He was a friend of this family and came highly regarded for his reasonable pricing and a job well done. I left the yard sale, with the vintage saw, and parked at a local corner store to give Justin a call on a whim.

Within an hour, we were walking the property and discussing the job - he was confident he could drop all 30 trees and take/cut/chip everything that came with them.

A few days later, I had my quote - $4,000 (with an additional $500 of wiggle room just in case the job was bigger than expected).

We had just gone from $17,000 to $4,000, and this included removing the trees and debris as well. With an overabundance of enthusiasm, I told him to consider himself hired and he told me he'd start next week.

I visited our land yesterday to check out the progress and couldn't believe he had all the trees down and cut already. When I arrived, they were busy feeding branches into the chipper and moving a couple of oaks into a pile.

He's hoping to be wrapped up with the job sometime early next week, and has been an absolute pleasure to work with. He gave me his quote within a few days, started when he said he would, and has kept to the plans we laid out prior to him starting the job. He also happens to be insured, which was something I was having a hard time finding during my search on who to hire.

So if you need a tree guy, Justin is your man! He can be called or texted at 1-774-634-8186.

Kelsey Janak

Professional web & graphic designer with a passion for crafting, DIY, and all things Pinterest.

It took 12 weeks after Eversource told us "30 days," but they're in

You may remember my post, from back in November, about how we got our 4 private poles installed - then how they all got destroyed by a freak Nor’Easter about 7 days later. We have since repaired the poles, which only cost us $500 thanks to our pole guy being an incredible human being. None of the wires, despite like 4 massive trees on top of one of them, sustained any damage and the poles themselves just needed a bit of readjusting to get everything back to par. Finally, it was time for Eversource to get in and do their part.

We successfully broke the law and couldn't be happier

July 10th has been my only concern this past month as we awaited our variance hearing. Every time I saw it on the calendar, or heard it in passing, it would trigger my anxiety and give me hot flashes. July 10th was the date of variance hearing, which I talked about it my last post.

The first project that didn't take 84 years - excavation!

Despite the confusion from the Board of Health as to why they were looking at our septic plan a THIRD time within the last couple of years, NewNewNewSepticPlan.PDF was officially approved by them at the end of February.